Shaping The Future of The Defence Sector at DSEI 2023
The Panasonic TOUGHBOOK team has recently returned from the annual Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) event; with record-setting attendance figures in the books, there was a tremendous atmosphere at London’s ExCeL amongst the 1,500 defence and security suppliers present, and plenty to digest over the four days.
written by: Charlotte Langridge, Public Sector Business Manager for Defence and Police, UK and Ireland, Panasonic TOUGHBOOK
DSEI 2023 was unprecedented in every way. The attendance figures were the best in the event’s 24-year history, with numbers up 23% over the previous pre-pandemic record set in 2019. With more than 250 suppliers exhibiting for the first time, the extended TOUGHBOOK team had a jam-packed four days of engaging with industry leaders and decision makers, and continuously learning about the exciting and innovative technology in the market.
Connection and Collaboration The Name of the Game
Of course, my team was largely focused on meeting with our existing partners and customers, as well as prospects, showcasing our latest state-of-the-art military solutions. Unlike many trade events, it also provided a fantastic opportunity to get 1-on-1 with those from our systems integrator partners, and end-users; the latter providing us with real insight into the real use cases that Panasonic TOUGHBOOK solutions are being deployed in.
The ability to have face-to-face conversations with those stakeholders that we had been speaking to throughout the year was invaluable. As one of the industry’s biggest events, the opportunity to sit down with customers was not one to be passed up; with the entire defence technology sector’s year geared towards DSEI, the event was a valuable forum for Panasonic’s team to develop stronger customer relationships, and advise them on the particular projects they are working on.
Seeing is believing, as they say, and many customers went away realising that TOUGHBOOK could customise its technology to meet their requirements, without having to reinvent the wheel. The ability for us to integrate our technology into their existing solutions was a very powerful message for customers and prospects at DSEI.
Navigating supply-chains throughout the defence technology landscape can be challenging at times, with varying layers and stakeholders, so the opportunity to facilitate direct customer engagement was of great value to Panasonic, partners and end-users.
The overall engagement on the Panasonic TOUGHBOOK stand was fantastic. Meetings were being booked on a non-stop basis, and stand visits were visibly as high as they have ever been – you couldn’t move for the visitors engaging around our latest technology.
Innovative Defence Solutions
During the DSEI showcase, Panasonic TOUGHBOOK presented live demonstrations, virtual simulations, and product testing, enabling us to demonstrate how Panasonic’s range of TOUGHBOOK solutions deliver, regardless of the mission. Our stand was divided into different solution zones, such as vehicle and security areas, enabling visitors to prioritise the technology that could address their needs in a certain area.
As customers moved around our multiple hubs, they could experience the full Panasonic TOUGHBOOK portfolio hands-on. Defence-focused solutions that featured on the stand included the TOUGHBOOK 40 Military – built upon the 14" fully rugged notebook and completely modular – our in-vehicle solutions and custom-designed mount enclosures for the TOUGHBOOK G2, the TOUGHBOOK 33 2-in-1 detachable, and the most versatile TOUGHBOOK ever built, the TOUGHBOOK 55.
Leading From the Front with High-Quality Expertise
A key differentiator for customers at DSEI this year was the presence of our design and application engineers from our Service and Configuration Centre in Cardiff. This was two-fold for Panasonic; they could have one-on-one conversations with new customers who wanted to deep-dive straight into a certain challenge they were experiencing, and showcase the niche – yet important – projects that they have been working on across Europe with different defence partners.
Examples included the addition of ruggedised connectors to devices, or shock mounts for in-vehicle solutions that can withstand the impact of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast. To our knowledge, Panasonic was the only provider of its kind to have this level of engineering capability at DSEI, demonstrating our commitment to strong customer relationships, let alone our knack for continuously innovating.
With end-users and partners having the ability to inform our design and application engineers of the exact solutions they were looking for, it enabled us to continue to develop technology that directly addressed the defence sectors actual challenges, not something that is speculative for the future. It was great to see our engineering team in full-flow and feed off the addictive buzz at DSEI.
Such was the success of these sessions, Panasonic will soon be bringing back customer-focused innovation forums, providing our customers with additional opportunities to engage directly with industry leading insights. Watch this space!
Overall, DSEI 2023 certainly lived up to expectations. It was fantastic to see so much of the show floor already using TOUGHBOOK technology, and the potential for us to further position Panasonic as the defence sector supplier of choice. Here’s to 2025!
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